Miami at Clemson: 100 percent chance of rain. Who will have advantage in the downpour?
The seventh-ranked Miami Hurricanes are expected to have their first significant slip-slop of a game Saturday night at top-ranked Clemson in South Carolina.
The forecast for the 7:30 p.m. kickoff (ABC) calls for temperatures in the high 60s with a 90 to 100-percent chance of rain and plenty of thunder. Not sure about projected lightning. That would delay the game 30 minutes every time it strikes.
It already rained hard at Memorial Stadium earlier in the day. ESPN’s popular College GameDay show is on site there and showed the downpour.
On Thursday during a Zoom video conference session, college football commentator Kirk Herbstret, who is calling the game with Chris Fowler, was told about the probable bad weather and asked what kind of factor it could play in the running and passing game for each team.
I know talking to [Clemson’s] Trevor [Lawrence], they haven’t had a ton of wet games since he’s been a quarterback there,’’ Herbstreit said, “but he has large hands and he handles a wet ball pretty easily. I’m going to talk to [Miami quarterback] D’Eriq [King] later to ask him the same question.
“I’m a big believer, unless it’s a monsoon, if it’s just a really, really, really wet, slick surface, I’m a big believer that it helps the offense more than hurts the offense. When you’re running a route or you’re using your body weight you can kind of position your weight and distribute it on your feet knowing which way you’re going and be very careful and mindful of not slipping. Whereas the defender, especially in man coverage, he’s reacting to where I’m going — I think it’s much easier for him to lose his footing than it is for the offense.
“I think if it’s a monsoon, it’s, ‘Hold on to your hat, this thing could get sloppy.’ But if it’s just wet conditions, if your quarterback can handle the ball, than I think the offense has an advantage.’’
Lawrence is 6-6 and 220 pounds. King is 5-10 and 202 pounds. Both signal callers are proficient runners.
